Anderlecht captain Hendrik Van Crombrugge passed the Extra Time table yesterday. Among other things, his crooked finger, his rather unusual first meeting with Vincent Kompany and his “walking ability” during a match were discussed. An overview.
Van Crombrugge’s “crommed” little finger
At the beginning of the broadcast, presenter Frank Raes again gauged the condition of Van Crombrugge’s little finger. Due to his career as a goalkeeper, he is now skewed. “Professional training”, Van Crombrugge calls it, “but it doesn’t hinder me in goalkeeping.”
Kompany’s economics lesson
Van Crombrugge also had an anecdote about his first meeting with his current coach Vincent Kompany. That was not at Anderlecht, but it was at the national team, where the goalkeeper was then called in as a substitute.
“I was still playing at Eupen then. I was sitting at the table not that far from Kompany, he was explaining something about economics, it was about returns. Benteke didn’t really understand, but when he asked me a question I gave a good answer. He was almost teaching.”
The “walking ability” of the Anderlecht goalkeeper
A striking statistic was discussed in Extra Time on Monday: During a match, Van Crombrugge runs almost 2 kilometers more than fellow goalkeepers such as Simon Mignolet or Maarten Vandevoordt.
“Why is that? I will be badly drafted?”, Van Crombrugge laughs. “It is purely due to positional play: reading situations in a certain way. I was tactically trained by my Spanish goalkeeper coach in Eupen.”
“Watch Club PSG? There are so many fun things to do at night”
On Wednesday, national champions Club Brugge will start their Champions League adventure with the gala match against the stars of PSG. However, Van Crombrugge will not sit in front of the TV screen.
“There are so many fun things to do in the evenings. I don’t watch that much football anyway. I have many other interests and a lot of time goes into my two children.”
